InStill Life Card Project in Sayulita

Two years ago, Sayulita locals, Tanis Hofmann and her husband, Jorge Pantoja Tapia, teamed up with Nikos Theodosakis, founder of OliveUs, to bring the InStill Life Card Project to the Damian Carmona public elementary school in Sayulita. This global art project is intended to inspire and empower students, as well as get them involved in their local community. “I knew Nikos from Penticton, Canada, and thought the project would be great for the grade 5 class in Sayulita, so we brought it here,” shared Tanis.

For this project, the students each drew a picture of something that inspired them, and wrote a short biography about themselves and their picture. These items, along with a photo of each student, were sent to Canada to be made into glossy cards to be sold. They were constructed by students at West Bench Elementary School in Penticton, Canada, and the initial biographies, which were written in Spanish, were translated by Okanagan College students from various South American countries.

Two years ago, the students decided how the proceeds should be spent. They opted to put the money back into the elementary and secondary schools, and have already replaced the basketball hoops, had a new metal door installed and painted, and bought two soccer balls for the elementary school as per the first list made two years ago. They also purchased and installed two fans at the elementary school and one fan at the secondary school. The money for these projects has come from cards that have already been sold in Canada. Now, the students will be selling the cards in Sayulita to raise money for additional products.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this project has only now come to fruition in Sayulita. The local children who participated in this project are currently students at the Escuela Secundaria General, and are very excited to see and sell their finished cards. One student, Hernan Chavez Luna, said, “It is cool. It is exciting because it is a benefit to the school.”

The principal at the Escuela Secundaria General, Berenice Guardado Benitez, is also excited about this project. “It is very interesting. We want to cooperate with the project and to support it. The first thing we need is a library. We also need to fix the drinking water, we need projectors, and we need good hoses to water the garden,” she shared.

The students will be selling their cards in Sayulita at the plaza on Saturday, May 30^th and Saturday, June 6^th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Each card will cost 150 pesos and the proceeds will go towards the needs of the school. If any Sayulita store owner would like to help in this effort and sell cards, please contact Tanis at altagraciayoga@gmail.com.